A Marion Township man convicted in connection with a fatal road-rage shooting is expected to be sentenced Friday.

Martin Edward Zale was convicted by a jury of second-degree murder and related firearms charges for the Sept. 2 fatal shooting of Derek Flemming as the Oceola Township man confronted Zale, 69, on Grand River Avenue at the Chilson Road intersection in Genoa Township following an alleged road-rage incident.

The hearing is slated to begin 2 p.m. in Judge Miriam Cavanaugh’s courtroom on Highlander Way in Howell.

Zale testified at his trial in May that he intended to kill Flemming, who stood at the driver’s-side window of Zale’s Dodge Ram pickup while it was stopped at the red light, but he said it was in self-defense because Flemming hit him in the face, threatened to harm him and reached into his cab as if to carry out the threat.

One witness testified that he saw puffiness on Zale’s face that could have been from an assault, but neither that witness nor the 14 other eyewitnesses who testified reported seeing Flemming throw a punch at Zale.

While the defense argued self-defense, the prosecution told the jury it was first-degree premeditated murder because Zale was in the safety of his truck and he could have put his window up and left the area rather than firing his 9mm Ruger semi-automatic handgun. A single gunshot wound struck Flemming in the face, killing him.

Second-degree murder carries a penalty of any term up to life in prison.